


thiscrushwillkillme

by pessoa



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Mild Angst, Pining Keith (Voltron), Secret Crush, klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:06:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22994422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pessoa/pseuds/pessoa
Summary: Lance accidentally discovers Keith's secret blog ... and his secret crush!
Relationships: Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 42
Kudos: 195





	1. At The Library

Lance races down the halls of Altea Heights High School. What a day to forget his laptop at home! With his history paper due in less than 15 minutes, he rushes to the library to find a computer to work on. As soon as he bursts through the doors, the head librarian at the circulation desk shushes him. Yikes, the 300 year old Mrs. Hess. He knows she hates him because he’s never _not_ loud in the library but today he actually has work to do. And shit, are all the computers really taken right now??

He turns to Mrs. Hess. “Um, can you kick one of those students off? I have a history paper to finish writing. And I’m sure half of them are just looking at furry porn anyway.”

She is unamused. “You’re actually here to work and not be a disruption, Lance? That’s a first. You still have to wait your turn.” She adjusts her bifocals and turns back to the monitor. Lance whiningly protests but she cuts him off with one last vigorous “Shh!”

Ugh. Okay fine. Time to go to one of the girls on the computers, turn on the charm and sweet-talk his way into getting her to go away. As soon as he gets closer, he spots that his sometime friend/sometime foe Keith is on the last computer in the corner. Aha! If he’s in a good mood and in the friend column today, this will be much easier.

“Hey, Keith buddy!” Lance whispers behind him as he slaps a hand on Keith’s shoulder. Keith jumps, absolutely startled. He quickly switches tabs on what he is doing.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Keith asks, his face red and half-furious. 

Uh-oh, this doesn’t bode well for the friend column. “Hey, no worries Keith. Your porn is safe with me.” 

“I’m not looking at porn, you idiot!”

This time the shushing sound comes from a girl who is on the computer next to Keith. Lance lowers his voice and gets extra close so Keith can hear him. “Yeah fine, whatever. Listen, I need a favor. Like asap. I forgot my laptop at home and this history paper is due in like 3 minutes. I have only a few more words to write. _Please_ let me get on this computer?”

“Why should I help you?” Keith narrows his eyes at Lance and tries to edge away from his face which is inches from his. “May I remind you that not only did you make fun of my hair yesterday but you had the fucking nerve to pull it as well?”

Oh yeah, that. No wonder he’s in the enemy column today. “How could I forget? I still have the bruise on my arm to prove it after you hit me! Um, I didn’t mean to make fun of your mullet.”

“ _It’s not a mullet!_ ” Keith whisper-shouts which earns him a harsh “SHH” from Mrs. Hess all the way at the front desk.

 _Dammit_. Time is running out for Lance. “Yup, not a mullet! I’m only jealous because I can’t grow my hair out like you. Mine starts to curl and look weird. Yours is nice and silky.” To hammer in his point, he runs his hand through Keith’s hair on the back of his neck and Keith flinches. 

“Ugh, just take the computer and shut up!” Keith hisses as he gets up and practically knocks over his chair as he rushes away.

“Thanks buddy, I owe you one!” says Lance in his regular speaking voice which gets him a chorus of shushes. _Finally!_ He thought Keith would never crack. Lance logs into his Google account and opens the file on his g-drive. He finds where he left off and starts typing furiously. Five minutes left before he has to print this out and turn it in. Typical of his super-old teacher to be stuck in the ‘90s when every other teacher doesn’t mind papers being emailed. Shoot, he remembers that he didn’t cite one of his sources. He goes to Chrome and finds that he’s switched to an incognito browser. Ha, guess Keith was right. It wasn’t porn he was looking at, looks more like a blog in a dark mode theme? He wonders whose blog he is reading when he notices the profile photo as a pair of Keith’s fingerless gloves. He’d recognize those anywhere. Oh my god. Is this actually Keith’s blog? Lance bursts out laughing while the girl next to him shushes him again. 

“Sorry!” he whispers to her before turning back to the blog. He always knew Keith was a dork but this takes it to a new level. What mundane idiocy could he be writing about? He reads today’s short entry.

> “Haven’t seen X today yet. Sometimes after my lunch break I spot him in the hall because his math class is next to mine. How can I miss him so much when it hasn’t even been a full day since I last saw him? It’s like I’m an addict and he is my goddamn drug. Going this long without seeing him puts me in total despair.”

WOW. Okay, seems like Keith has a massive crush on some guy who he stupidly is calling X. Who would it be in that math class? What kind of guy would even be Keith’s type? Lance knows he shouldn’t be reading more but it’s all too juicy. He can’t wait to put the clues together, find out who this guy is and endlessly bother Keith about it. He reads yesterday’s entry which is a bit longer.

> “Shit’s too real. X made fun of my hair for the millionth time again but he actually pulled on it? Like the way a five year old does to girls in elementary school? What the hell? Only I wish he actually did have a crush on me like I do on him. Fuck, I’d like to pull his hair while I”

The rest of the sentence makes Lance blush so hard he feels he might self-combust. He quickly switches tabs and looks around paranoid, as if the entire room saw what he read. He turns to the girl next to him. “You didn’t see that, did you?”

The girl shrugs. “I don’t care if you read fanfic. I’m reading one too.”

“Ha, yeah! That good ol’ fanfic, can’t get enough of it!” Lance feels like his brain might explode. And now the head librarian has gotten up from her chair. He quickly cites his source and starts printing the paper. He’ll only be late by about five minutes. He takes one last look at Keith’s blog’s name at wordpress: thiscrushwillkillme

Oh god. It’s even a crush blog. 

“You really don’t know how to stop yammering, do you Lance? I’m going to have to kick you out, you’re a nonstop disruption!”

“No, it’s fine, I’m on my way anyway, just need to grab my-”

The librarian holds aloft Lance’s history paper in her spindly grip. “This?”

“Um, yes? Please? And I’ll be out of your way for the rest of the day, I promise!”

“Make it a week and I’ll hand it over.”

“Yes, a week! You won’t see me for a week!”

She begrudgingly hands the paper over and he shoots out of the library. Once he reaches the staircase he goes up two steps at a time to the second floor where his class is. Jesus! Suddenly this late history paper is the least of his worries. 

His arch-frenemy has a crush on him!


	2. With Friends Like These...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance now knows Keith has a crush on him. But what will his friends think about all this?

Lance hands his paper in late to Mr. Lopez who immediately writes a ‘-10’ deduction on it. Fine, whatever, as long as he gets a passing grade on it. As soon as he sits down at his desk, he tries to brainstorm what his plan of action should be... 

First, he can’t rule out that this ‘X’ guy might be someone else besides him. Maybe there’s another guy who pulled Keith’s hair yesterday and lived to see another day? No, impossible. Lance is dying to read more of the blog on his phone but he can’t get into any more trouble in this class. Nor can he guarantee that the rest of the blog entries won’t make him react embarrassingly in front of everyone. Better to put his phone away. Just as he’s opening the small pocket of his backpack, his phone pings with a message. He checks the lock screen and sees that it’s a text from Keith.

“ _Fuck!_ ” he exclaims and drops the phone with a loud clatter.

“McClain, disrupting my class again? That’s another 10 points from your paper.” Mr. Lopez takes out his red pen and gleefully makes another mark on Lance’s paper.

“Ugh no, it’s not my fault!”

“Keep talking, McClain. I can take points off for impertinence as well.”

 _Great_. If he gets a failing grade it’s all Keith’s fault. Lance mutters an apology and tries to concentrate on the rest of the lesson. But he can’t stop thinking about the blog and what it all means… how can his frenemy have a crush on him?? Keith is always so mean to him! 

After what seems like forever, the bell finally rings. Lance takes out his phone and sees the two messages from Keith. The first one reads: ‘you writing your history paper’ and the second message is an image of a clown on a computer.

If this is a crush, Keith sure has a weird way of showing it…

* * *

**Lunch period**

Lance is on the lunch line with his friends Hunk and Pidge who are arguing about a trivia question like the nerds they are. On Thursdays Keith and Allura have lunch at a different time than them. Thank god. He doesn’t think he can face Keith any time soon. Lance scrolls down the blog to read another recent post:

> I hate his blue eyes, his cafe con leche complexion, his pretty brown hair, his long lean athletic body. Meaning I’d like to run my hands and my tongue all over him.

_Shit_. This is too much, he can’t read this in public! It is absolutely about him! And is it a crush or a lust blog? Really, what is even the difference? Pidge looks over at him and wrinkles her nose. “Ew, are you sexting some poor girl again? Please stop, you’re going to make me lose my appetite.”

“Ha, funny. And no, I’m just reading something uh…” what can he say?

“Let me see,” Hunk says and grabs Lance’s phone. Lance tries to reach for it but Hunk is about a head taller and twice as strong. “ _‘I hate his blue eyes, his cafe con leche complexion, his pretty brown hair, his long lean athletic body. Meaning I’d like to run my hands and my tongue all over’_ -WHOA,” Hunk stops reading out loud but can’t tear his eyes away from the screen.

“Give it back!!” Lance shouts.

“Oh my god. You have to see this, Pidge.” Hunk keeps Lance away with one arm while he tries to pass the phone to Pidge.

“Gross, no way! I don’t want to read that! Lance, are you seriously writing porn about yourself? This should surprise me but sadly it doesn’t.”

“So you think that description is about me?”

“Yeah duh, to a tee. You do have a pretty unique genetic mix.”

“Wait, are you saying you didn’t write this?” Hunk asks, his eyes growing wider at the screen. Lance stops fighting for his phone back. Well, he was going to tell them anyway, there was no way he could keep this a secret. Once they get their food trays and sit down, he tells them what happened in the library with Keith. His face blushes in the retelling and he doesn’t know if he’s embarrassed for Keith or for himself.

Hunk lets out a low whistle, surprised by what a difference one morning could make to their friend group. “Crazy! Well, what are you going to do?”

“That’s the problem! I can’t tell Keith, he’ll kill me for reading his blog in the first place!”

“Hmm,” Pidge says, her fingers splayed together below her chin in deep thought. “Ethically speaking, you really shouldn’t have read his blog. Obviously he wanted to maintain anonymity by not overtly revealing details about himself and by calling you X. The sure way to go would be to pretend you never read any of this but knowing you, there’s no way you could hide this.”

“What do I dooo?” whines Lance, pushing his tray away and almost banging his head on the table. “This is so cringe!”

“Welp, we’ll just have to erase your memory!” Hunk exclaims triumphantly. “Do a hard reset and done!”

“Yes,” Pidge chimes in. “But then we’d have to erase our _own_ memories of this ordeal in case we bring it up again.”

“But then we’ll discover that we have a memory-erasing program on one of our computers and so we’d look into why we even did that and with our genius sleuthing we’d end up back at square one and--”

“Stop it, you two! This is not funny.”

“Can I read more of his blog?” Hunk asks, reaching for Lance’s phone.

“No! At least not until _I_ read more of it. God, put yourself in my shoes and see how you’d feel!”

Hunk shrugs. “Okay, so one of your friends thinks you’re hot! What’s so wrong with that?”

“He’s not my friend, he’s like my enemy!”

“I will say that this is all starting to make sense now,” Pidge interjects. “Keith does stare at you a lot. I always thought it was because he was trying to think of various ways to kill you. Like I usually do when you are irritating. Which is basically 90 percent of the time.”

Lance buries his face in his hands. “Pidge, you are not helping.”

Hunk chimes in. “You know, they say honesty is the best policy. Maybe tell him you’re sorry that you accidentally read his blog? And that it’s okay he has a crush on you and you can still be friends?”

Lance sighs. “There is no way _in hell_ that I am ever confronting Keith about this. This isn’t just some cute innocent crush. He wants to like ... ravish me!”

“That’s hot,” Hunk muses while Pidge scans her phone, shaking her head in bewilderment.

“This is really explicit. Geez, hasn’t Keith heard of private blogs?”

Lance’s eyes open wide. “Pidge, how are you reading it? How did you--”

“I saw the url on your phone. ‘This Crush Will Kill Me’ on wordpress. You know people have left comments on some of his posts?”

“WHAT?” Lance almost screams, snatching Pidge’s phone.

“Hey, read your own!”

Pidge tries to take her phone back while Hunk tries to steal Lance’s from his hands. They’re a wild assortment of slapping hands and flying phones.

“Hi guys! What’s going on over here?”

Lance actually screams while Pidge manages a weak “Uh, hi Shiro.” Shiro is Keith’s older brother and a senior in their high school. He’s immensely popular and yet is always nice to them, even considering that they were just lowly freshmen last year.

“Ha ha, oh you know it’s the uh, usual around here! Nothing new whatsoever, what’s going on with you?” Hunk hopes his deflection works but Lance is all shaky nerves as he clutches three phones to his chest.

“Lance, what are you doing with everyone’s phones?” Shiro asks, looking at the dishevelled mess before him.

“Um… I’m uh…I.. you know what? I have to pee _really_ bad. See you guys later!” And Lance runs out of the lunchroom. Hunk and Pidge apologize to Shiro before chasing after Lance, yelling for him to give their phones back. Shiro shakes his head in bewilderment. He knew Keith’s friends were a little weird but even this is going a bit far. They looked almost scared to see Shiro… especially Lance. He would have to ask his younger brother about it later.

* * *

Lance heads to his next class after lunch with two phones in his backpack and his own in his hand, having successfully evaded Hunk and Pidge. He can’t have them read the blog before he does. Yet there are so many entries, dating months back! Other students say hi to him in the hall and he gives a cursory wave without looking up from his screen. He knows he should stay away from the blog considering how graphic some of it is. He bumps into someone and mutters a sorry before trying to move away when the other person says “Uh, excuse _you_ Lance.”

 _Oh shit, it’s Keith!_ Lance goes completely red in the face. “HiBye!” he squeaks before rushing into his classroom. Dammit, he forgot Keith’s math class is next door to his. He has to be more aware of his surroundings. Oh no, did Keith see the screen that Lance was looking at? No way, their interaction was too quick. This is too much to handle. He would have to tell the others to give an excuse for why Lance can’t meet them all after school like they usually do. A text pops up on his phone from their friend Shay: 

_‘this is hunk. i want my phone back. also have you spoken to allura yet?’_

Jesus, did Hunk tell Shay about this whole thing? Why is he using her phone? Are his friends trying to kill him? Next he sees a text from ‘anonymous’:

_‘Lance you IDIOT. You do realize I carry a laptop, tablet and burner phone with me at all times right? And I'm a speed reader. I can read the entire blog in the next hour. Give me my phone back after your math class or I WILL tell Keith’_

Oh, his friends _definitely_ want to kill him. He feels a massive headache coming on. He texts Allura: _‘hey, I don’t feel well, going home early. pidge and hunk’s phones in my locker: 12-26-8’_ There was no way he was facing Keith later today.

* * *

Lance’s mother checked his temperature when he came home. While his forehead felt slightly warmer than usual, it definitely was not a fever. Still, his mother could tell something was up with him. “I’m just tired, I need rest,” he told her. He went to his room and immediately took out his phone to continue reading the blog. He wishes he could speed-read like Pidge. Not only were there so many entries but he sometimes had to take a break from what he read because it was so _jarring._ Lance can’t remember blushing this many times about anything, ever. _Congrats Keith, you are embarrassing the shit out of me and you don’t even know it_. He buries himself under his blankets and continues reading. When it’s not explicit, it doesn’t make it any easier to read:

> ‘I know I'll never be good enough for X. He’s perfect in every way. And the worst thing is he knows it. Only in my dreams can he ever be mine…’

Lance feels a wave of guilt. Keith never intended for Lance to read this. How can he both apologize to him and have everything go back to normal? The door knocks and Lance says “ _Estoy durmiendo!_ ’ thinking it’s his mother again.

“Um, por favor let me in?” a voice says, butchering the Spanish portion.

Allura! He gets up and lets her in. The Lance of freshman year would have been mortified to let her into his messy room while he’s just wearing an old shirt and boxers, his hair completely dishevelled from being under the covers. His crush on her had proved fruitless after she rejected him more than once and dated different guys. A tiny portion of him is secretly thrilled that she is finally in his room though.

“Wow, you really do look like shit. Hunk and Pidge weren’t kidding.”

“Ugh,” Lance groans, what little of his dream fantasy about this moment going out like a puff of smoke. “Did they tell you all about the blog?”

“What blog?”

“Oh my god, those two didn’t tell you?” He is equal parts surprised and impressed.

“No, but they did tell me that something really crazy happened to you and that you needed some kind of help. So here I am! What’s going on?”

Lance sighs. Now he wishes they’d told her so he doesn’t have to repeat the embarrassing tale again. He recalls the day’s events to Allura, including Shiro seeing them all fighting over the phones and bumping into Keith and running away from him.

Allura nods understandably while he speaks and once he’s done she gives him a warm hug. “Oh poor baby. But you’ll survive. It’s Keith I’m worried about… would it be okay if I read some of the blog?” Allura points to Lance’s phone.

“Noooo way… ” Lance says, pulling away from the hug. “It’s bad. _Real_ bad. You have no idea. I didn’t go into detail because it’s so--”

“Oh please. I’m no shrinking violet. Gimme.” She takes the phone and starts reading. Lance watches her face to see if her expression will change. At first she looks confused, then her eyes widen and she laughs out loud. “Okaaaay! Wow! You weren’t kidding!” She fans herself in exaggeration. “Get me my smelling salts before I faint. Damn!”

“Allura, this is _not_ funny.”

“God, I wish someone would write like this about _me_.”

Now it’s Lance’s turn to blush. 

“No, but seriously…” Allura glances at Lance. “When are you going to ask him out?”

“WHAT.”

“You heard me. Why not?”

“Because he’s like… my number one enemy??”

“No, he’s not.” Allura continues to scan the blog. “He’s smart, hot, strong and clearly DTF. Name one good reason not to date him.”

“I… I don’t think of him the same way?”

“Something tells me he can certainly change your mind about that.” She raises her eyebrows suggestively at him.

“Allura, I thought you were supposed to be our rational friend? Suddenly Hunk and Pidge’s stupid idea of memory erasure is sounding a lot better!”

Allura sighs and puts down the phone. “Lance. You can’t take back that you read the blog. And you can’t act normal around him now that you know. So what are your options really? You tell him you know and reject him or you tell him you know and say you’re willing to try that position in Blog Post #145.”

Lance grabs one of his pillows, smushes his face into it and lets it absorb his scream. Allura ruffles his hair. “You pretty dummy. This is a perfect opportunity for you two to explore the sexual tension that is constantly bubbling up around you. I mean, pulling Keith’s hair? Why else would you do that?”

“Because it looks stupid!!!” he muffles into the pillow. He looks up sharply. “And wait, did you just call me pretty?”

Allura ignores his question. “You did it because you love getting a reaction out of Keith. Honestly, this feels a little like payback for all the times you made fun of him and teased him.”

“This is SO much worse than anything I ever did.” 

Allura smiles and gives Lance another hug. “Do yourself a favor and stop reading the blog. Tell him tomorrow before he thinks you’re avoiding him for no good reason.”

After she leaves Lance buries himself back under the covers. He hopes when he wakes up that this is all a bad dream...


	3. Death by Text

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance's friends know about Keith's secret blog and Keith's crush on him. They proceed to do their worst. Also, auto-correct will be the death of Lance.

Lance tosses and turns in bed. There is no way he is sleeping anytime soon. He flings an arm to the nightstand and feels around for his phone. The screen indicates it’s almost midnight. His lockscreen notification shows that there are unread messages in the trio group chat he shares with Hunk and Pidge.

**Hunk: hey lance buddy.. u doing ok?**   
**Pidge: Yeah, didn’t mean to scare you with my threat earlier but I’m very territorial with my property. I was never going to tell Keith anything**

Well, it’s nice to know his friends are checking in on him. He can’t hate them. For now.

**Lance: it’s fine…. thanks for not telling allura**   
**L: tho i wish you had! she came over**   
**L: it was scary : <**   
**Hunk: what did she say??**   
**L: that i should ask him out -_-**   
**P: HA!**   
**H: and… are you going to?????**   
**L: NO. who do you even think i am?**   
**P: Listen, I have what could be a good plan**   
**L: i’m listening…**   
**P: So you know how people leave comments? One person months back was telling him he should confess his crush but Keith was all, I’d rather die and whatever. But what if we somehow communicated to him through the comments that it’s ok?**   
**L: um, what part of any of this is ok**   
**L: and he’s not supposed to know we know**   
**L: you know what? im going to pretend i dont know about the blog**   
**L: as long as you guys are around us and literally talking about ANYTHING else i think he won’t be able to tell**   
**H: um, this might work?**   
**P: :/ I'm not so sure. Lance, you’re as transparent as glass**   
**P: And really bad at keeping secrets**   
**L: this is different! i can totally pull a poker face in a matter of life and death**   
**L: and believe me, this is worse!!!!**   
**H: dont worry buddy, we got u covered!**   
**H: there is no end to the multitude of wonderful subjects i can distract with**   
**L: oh god, pls don’t start now**   
**P: Gotta go. So lunch tomorrow, and we will all act normal?**   
**L: yess.. and PLS..**   
**L: whatever you do**   
**L: do NOT**   
**L: i repeat DO NOT**   
**L: LEAVE ME ALONE WITH HIM!!!!**   
**P: So you want us to leave you alone with him?**   
**L: i SAID do NOTT!!**   
**H: haha, fraid hes gonna jump your bones at school? lmaooo**   
**L: i just dont want any awkwardness ok??**   
**H: kk, just joking buddy. we got u**

They say their good nights and Lance sincerely hopes that his friends stand by him. Thank god the next day is Friday so he only has one more day to avoid Keith before the weekend...

* * *

_Friday, Lunch period_

Lance is completely paranoid. Before he heads to the lunchroom he wants to be absolutely certain that Keith is not there first and by himself at their usual lunch table. Hiding behind a locker in the hall, he texts Hunk for an update. Hunk replies that he and Pidge are seated with their food. Okay, that’s a relief. He hasn’t been alone with Keith for any prolonged period of time since he found the blog and he still doesn’t know how to act around him. Lance grabs a tray of food from the lunchline and asserts himself to act casual and normal before he walks over. Keith doesn’t know that he knows, so he has to pretend like nothing has changed between them.

As he walks over to their usual spot, he’s relieved that Keith is not there yet. He pushes Hunk away from the end of the table. “But this is where I always sit!” Hunk whines.

“Not anymore! And Pidge, you stay right where you are, across from me. You two are going to be my barrier.”

Pidge rolls her eyes. “What happened to making this _not_ awkward?”

“Oh please, like he’ll notice that I switched chairs? I’m always moving around anyway!”

Hunk snorts. “Oh, _he’ll_ notice. Like he notices pretty much everything about you. I wouldn’t be surprised if this seat change is topic numero uno in the next blog post.”

“ _Oh shit, he’s coming over!_ ” Lance whispers and he feels like the temperature in the room has gone up.

Keith arrives at their table and puts his tray down. An immediate silence falls. “Hey,” Keith says, looking at them funny.

“Hi Keith!” Hunk says over-enthusiastically.

“Hello,” Pidge says while chewing on a mouthful of tater tots.

Lance pretends to be overly absorbed with his meatball hero.

No one says anything for a good minute. Lance panics and texts the trio group chat.

**L: GUYS SAY SOMETHING**   
**P: We’re EATING**

Hunk says aloud, “We’re eating!” Lance cringes and Keith looks at Hunk, confused. “I mean, we’re eating some real good food! Uh, Keith that sandwich looks tasty, what is it?”

“Just peanut butter and jelly.”

“Ha! A classic! Can’t go wrong with that.”

**L: pidge, pls say sth hunk is dying rn and its painful**   
**P: But you’re the loudmouth of the group**   
**P: If you want all this to seem normal you should NOT be this quiet**   
**L: i hate you**

Dammit, she is right. Lance finishes chewing on a fry and says, “Uh, I’m so glad we have a half-day next week! We should do something.”

“I’m down,” Keith answers.

Lance feels his ears burn, knowing Keith is looking at him right now. His phone vibrates twice and he looks down:

**H: i bet he’s down lolol ;)**   
**P: Did you just ask him out Lance??**

He will _murder_ his friends. “I mean ALL of us should do something,” Lance says aloud. “As a group!”

“Who are you texting?” Keith asks, noticing Lance on his phone.

**P: It doesn’t surprise me that Keith’s the jealous type**   
**H: ASDFLSKJ**

“Just my sister Veronica!” Lance says, while still not looking in Keith’s direction. His ears burn with recollection of everything he read on Keith’s blog. Like, is Keith currently undressing him in his mind? He picks up his jacket hooked to his bag and puts it on even though he feels warm.

“Wait...,” Keith says, looking over at Pidge who hides her phone, then over at Hunk who is still trying to find the right emoji. “Are you all texting each other right now?”

Hunk flips his phone screen down. “No! What makes you think that? Haha!”

Keith eyes them suspiciously. Before he can say anything else, Lance waves his arms wildly to someone in the distance. “Allura! Over here!”

She smiles and starts walking over to their table. _Thank god_. At least with Allura there would be no weird awkward silences.

“Hey everyone!” she says brightly to the table as she sits down next to Keith. “Ooh, Lance you’re looking especially good today. Did you do something different?”

“Um, what?” Lance blushes, unsure of what she means.

“Oh come on, you’re glowing! What could it be?” She elbows Keith. “Keith, what do you think? What is it about him that’s different?”

Lance’s blush deepens as everyone’s eyes are on him. Especially Keith who is frickin’ scrutinizing him. Oh, he will kill Allura for doing this on purpose!

Keith shrugs, completely straight-faced. “I dunno. He looks the same as always to me.”

“Hmm,” Pidge muses, the glare off her glasses flashing as she pushes them up the bridge of her nose. “Now that you mention it, Allura, there does seem something a bit different about Lance...”

Lance’s face is as red as the ketchup on Pidge’s tater tots. “There is absolutely NOTHING different about me. STOP. IT.” He kicks Hunk under the table for support. Hunk jerks to attention away from looking at Keith looking at Lance.

“Yup! Lance is right, nothing different about him at all! And I would know. He tells me _everything_. I would definitely know if he changed moisturizers or put something different in his hair. ”

Allura narrows her eyes at Hunk. “Aw, how sweet,” she deadpans, now that Hunk has killed her teasing game.

Pidge quickly types something on her phone before turning to everyone else. “Allura, before you came over we were discussing next Friday’s half-day. Lance wants to do something and Keith is free too. But I just remembered that my dad wants to take me and Matt to his workplace at the research center. So unfortunately I can’t join you all.” Pidge gives an almost imperceptible wink to Allura who immediately catches on. Hunk looks down at a recent message on his phone and almost starts choking.

“Oh, right!” Allura chimes. “Lance, I wish I could join too but the volleyball team has extended practice that day. Maybe I could join you guys later or something?”

“And I… might be busy that day!” Hunk sputters.

Lance is fuming, knowing exactly what these so-called friends are trying to do. “Oh _really_ Hunk?” he angrily asks. “Busy doing _what_?”

“Um… I…” he looks down at his phone which buzzes but Lance snatches it away. He knows Hunk is a notoriously bad liar and now he has no excuse that Pidge was probably trying to send him. Hunk looks at his own tray of chicken nuggets for help and says, “Chicken! I have to make a big chicken dinner that night for my family!”

“ _Liar!_ ” growls Lance.

Keith downs the rest of his can of Coke. “Well, if no one else can make it then we’ll just cancel.”

“NO!” Allura and Pidge shout simultaneously.

“I said I would join later!” Allura pleads to Keith. “And Hunk will be there but leave early! Now what should we do is the question!”

“You guys can figure that out. Gotta go, see ya later,” Keith gets up and leaves the table. As soon as he’s out of earshot, Lance reads aloud the text Pidge sent Hunk:

“‘ _Pretend you’re busy that day, this can be their first date!_ ’ Are you fucking kidding me, Pidge?!’

“It’s a brilliant idea and you know it!” Allura shoots back, throwing her arm around Pidge in support.

“And Hunk, why are you siding with them??”

“Sorry buddy, you know I always have your back! But at the same time I can’t help but think you and Keith would be the cutest couple _ever_!”

“Listen. I do NOT want to date Keith! We are not at all compatible. N-O, end of story!”

“We’re not asking you to marry the guy. It’s just one date,” Allura says, stealing a fry from Lance’s tray.

“If I _wanted_ to date him, I would have already _asked_ him. But I don’t! So stop all your twisted fun at my expense!”

“One question,” Pidge says, looking at Lance square in the eye.

“ _What_ , you little troublemaker?”

“Have you read the whole blog yet?”

“Um, just some of it.”

“What, like thirty percent? Fifty percent? Eighty percent?”

“I don’t know! And this is way more than one question!”

“I think you’re lying. I bet you stayed up late last night to read all of it.”

“What! No I didn’t!” Lance starts sweating. He is as bad a liar as Hunk is.

Allura smiles. “Pidge has a point, Lance. If the whole thing grosses you out so much, why are you reading the blog?”

“It’s just curiosity, okay?” He flings off his jacket now that Keith is gone. “Look, I’m heading to class. There will be NO half-day date, got it? You are _all_ officially on my shitlist.”

“Love you too!” he hears Allura sing-song as he walks away. _God_. There is no way he will let their stupid little plan happen.

* * *

_Friday evening_

Normally Lance would be out on a Friday night with his friends but avoiding Keith is now his first priority. He can’t risk the chance of running into him around their neighborhood, however unlikely.

To pass the time, he watches an old episode of his favorite anime on his laptop. But he keeps getting distracted by thinking about the blog. Has Keith updated today? He knows he shouldn’t check but he does anyway. He opens a new tab and clicks on the shortcut from his bookmarks. There’s an update from a mere minute ago. Strange that he and Keith were thinking of each other at the same time. The thought makes him blush, as if he got caught. He reads the blog post:

> I know he doesn’t like me but I’m starting to think … he _really_ doesn’t like me. Everything is fucking pointless. So do I hate him or hate myself?

Ouch. Was Lance that harsh during their lunchroom talk? Well, he did make it seem like he didn’t want to hang out with him unless someone else was present. And Keith also noticed the chat that excluded him. Shit. Now Lance feels bad. He checks the last message he had with Keith. It’s the one where Keith sent the picture of a clown on a computer. Truly, he does feel that way right now. He should say something nice to Keith to show that he doesn’t hate him. Well, not _too_ nice either, otherwise he’ll think he likes him.

Okay. What should he write? Respond to the clown picture? No, that conversation is old. Maybe he should bring up half-day plans? Or is that too much like setting up a date? Okay, fine he’ll go with something casual. Who doesn’t like to receive random texts, especially on a Friday night? It means someone is thinking of you and that’s always nice.

A simple ‘hey loser, what’s up’ is a good start. He hits send. Lance goes back to watching his anime. A couple of minutes pass. Strange, why hasn’t Keith responded yet? It’s not like he’s out having fun on a Friday. He checks his phone to see if he remembered to hit send. Not only was it sent but when he re-reads the text, his stomach drops:

**Lance: ‘hey lover, what’s up’**

_Shit!_ His stupid auto-correct is going to send him straight to the grave! Lance quickly sends more messages.

**L: ugh that was my stupid autocorrect!! i meant LOSER**   
**L: obviously !**   
**L: since you clearly are one, a loser i mean**

Oh no. Keith is already typing. He is never going to let him live this down.

**K: lmaooooo. it’s ok lance**   
**K: i won’t tell anyone your true feelings for me**

What?? What the fuck? No! _YOU’RE the one with the hopeless crush on me_ , Lance thinks furiously.

**L: YOU WISH**   
**K: whatever. whats on your mind? besides me, that is**

Lance stares at the text longer than he should. Is this really the same guy who just wrote that super-depressing blog post? God, why did he bother texting him at all??

**L: har har you idiot. im just watching haikyuu. you?**   
**K: playing a game before you interrupted. btw are the ½ day plans still happening?**

Shit, this wasn’t what Lance wanted to discuss.

**L: um no. i dont think anyone is free**   
**K: well, you and me could still do something**   
**K: if you want**

Lance’s cheeks burn. Is Keith asking him out on a date? Or are they just two guys hanging out? How should he interpret this? Minutes pass and just as he’s trying to think of what to write, Keith sends another text.

**K: it’s ok if you don’t.. we can wait til everyone is free**

Ughh. He doesn’t want to reject Keith outright. Then Keith will think his most recent blog post is right. And maybe he can still get Hunk to come along since he was obviously lying.

**L: ill ask hunk, i think his chicken dinner can be later**   
**L: will let you know**   
**K: ok np**   
**L: k... ill let you get back to your game**   
**K: sure. good night LOVER**   
**L: STOP**   
**K: sweet dreams**   
**L: f u!**

Lance shakes his head, smiling a little. This guy…

He lies back on his head and stares at their chat a little while longer. Stupid typo… He knows Keith is teasing him but does he maybe think that Lance likes him too?

Hmm… is this the kind of thing Keith would write in his blog?

Lance blushes. No, he should _not_ be checking the blog again. He is _not_ obsessed. It’s not meant for his eyes anyway.

But it’s like a gateway to Keith’s mind. Wouldn’t anyone use it to know what one of their friends, er, frenemies, is thinking?

Lance closes his eyes. Okay. He will finish this episode and ONLY THEN can he check the blog. No sooner. He goes back to his laptop and presses play. The mouse pointer hovers at the browser.

No, do _not_ check it. Keith would not write a new blog post that quickly anyway.

…

Fuck it.

He switches tabs. It’s the same. See?

Oh wait, he forgot to refresh…

Oh my god.

There is a screenshot of the ' _hey lover, what’s up_ ' text. Thankfully Lance’s name is nowhere visible. His heart beats faster as he reads the short paragraph underneath.

> He may have written this as a mistake to me but i’m going to pretend that in my other life he means this. Everything feels a bit different now, maybe not so pointless??? I think maybe I should…... no I don’t know. I’m mixing fantasy with reality. God, I really hope I dream about him tonight again.

_Again?_ Oh no, Lance remembers the last blog post where Keith wrote down his dream. His whole body shivers. Oh crap, someone already responded?

> ‘WOAH can’t beleive this!!!!!1! I thnk maybe he lieks you too?? You know, froydian slip??’

Lance remembers this fan from previous comments. Whoever they are, they can never spell anything right. And he can’t believe this person is giving Keith these ideas. Freudian slip?? It was just stupid auto-correct! He’s tempted to reply in the comments but instead shuts his laptop closed.

Well, at least Keith is not sad anymore. Looks like his stupid typo made Keith’s night!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I originally wrote the ending for this it had a reeeeaally angsty, dark vibe so I'm trying to rewrite it in a more lighthearted way. I think maybe another two chapters will wrap this up? Also please ignore my texting formats, I'm still not satisfied with what looks best. Thanks for reading! :D


	4. Weekend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance aims for a Keith-free weekend as he spends time with family.

Saturday passed uneventfully for Lance. He kept busy by spending almost the whole day with his niece and nephew, taking them to the park and playground before enjoying a meal at his favorite taco joint. There was only a mild scare when Silvio screamed after accidentally eating some of the hot salsa Lance was using on his tacos. It took a good ten minutes to reassure him he wasn’t dying and another ten minutes to convince staff and onlookers that he hadn’t tried to poison his own nephew. Afterward, Lance treated them to ice cream on the condition that neither Silvio nor Nadia tell their parents about the hot salsa incident.

By the time Sunday afternoon rolled around, he felt good about his Keith-free weekend. Not only had he avoided the blog since Friday night (using very extraordinary willpower) but he also didn’t exchange any texts with Keith either. Now to just finish up his dreaded math homework... 

Luckily he can enlist the help of his genius older sister Veronica. She is in such a good mood, she doesn’t even ask for anything in return (this time). They sit at the kitchen table with an overflow of textbooks and random papers while their mom places two iced drinks between them. She kisses each on the top of their head and says, “My beautiful, super-smart children!” 

“Mom, super-smart only applies to one of us. Hence this situation before you,” Veronica says smugly as she reaches for her drink.

“Oh, yeah?? Well, at least I’m beautiful!” Lance counters weakly.

Veronica rolls her eyes. “Sure, keep telling yourself that. Ooh, is this a mojito?” Veronica asks, noticing the mint leaves in the glass.

“Yes, mojitos as a treat for both of you!” their mom says, tapping the glasses.

“Yeah!” Lance cheers as he clinks his glass with his sister, their needless teasing already forgotten. After the first sip, Lance says, “Wait a minute, there’s no alcohol in mine!”

“Yours is mostly virgin drink Lance. I gave more to Veronica since she’s older. Now study hard and pay attention to what your sister teaches you, _mi amor_.” She kisses them both and leaves the kitchen.

Veronica snorts. “Mostly virgin drink for the mostly-virgin!” Veronica cracks as she drinks more of her mojito.

“Oh shut up! You don’t know a thing about me. And easy on your drink, before you fuck up all the answers to my homework.”

“Please. I could solve these baby questions while black-out _drunk_ . The alcohol is so I can tolerate _you_ , my dear brother.” She boops his nose. “And what’s this about not knowing a thing about you? Have a girlfriend you wanna tell me about?”

“Pfft,” Lance says, though he can feel his ears start to grow warm. “All the ladies want a piece of this. I can’t decide on just _one_.”

“Really,” Veronica says, a smirk playing on her lips. “Is that why your crush Allura came over on Thursday night? Mom told me.”

“Um, no. That was for something else.” For some reason, Lance can’t lie about Allura. “Can we go back to my homework, please?” This line of thinking is going to ruin his Keith-free weekend.

“Why did she come over then?”

Lance is tempted to ignore the question but he notices that the teasing tone is gone from Veronica’s voice.

“Okay, but you promise you won’t tell Mom or Dad or anyone, okay?”

“Yeah, of course!” Veronica switches their drinks and clinks them again. “ _Pa’ el coraje_.”

He eagerly takes a sip, makes a face and switches their drinks back. “Um, anyway. You know my frie- er, Keith, right? He hangs out with me and Pidge and Hunk?”

“Yeah, sure. That emo Asian hottie with a mullet and those weird gloves.”

Now Lance’s ears are burning. “He’s _not_ hot. Anyway, I found out he has a crush on me.”

“What!” Veronica says, her face lighting up. “So he asked you out?”

“No! Um, he doesn’t know I know.”

Veronica’s face falls and her eyes narrow. She always had a sixth sense for when Lance did something wrong. “Okay, out with the whole thing.”

Lance heaves a deep sigh, switches their drinks again and tells the library story for the umpteenth time. As he’s speaking, his phone vibrates. Lance jumps in the air, panicking. “Oh no, he knows we’re talking about him!” He checks his phone. “Nevermind, it’s just a text from Pidge.” 

‘ **P: Have you read the blog today yet?** ’

Lance quickly responds. ‘ **no... and you should stay away too!** ’

He continues recounting the events to Veronica. When he almost finishes talking about his typo on Friday night, he gets another text, this time from Hunk: ‘ **yo buddy did you read the latest** ’

Veronica leans over to read Lance’s phone screen. “Hey, sounds like your friends are trying to tell you something.”

“No, I _refuse_. It’s probably just some really embarrassing dream he had about me. Let’s finish up this homework.”

Veronica agrees, not wanting to see her little brother embarrassed further. She continues explaining some geometry concepts to him and drills him with practice question after practice question. Once they are finished, they help their mom with dinner and eat at the family table with everyone else. Before Lance knows it, it’s almost 10pm. They each head back to their bedrooms but before Veronica goes down the hall she turns to Lance. “Keep me updated on what happens, okay? And remember, you can always talk to me about embarrassing stuff and I promise I won’t tell anyone. Well, at least until the embarrassment expiration date passes.” She playfully punches his arm.

“Yeah, thanks,” he says sheepishly. They wish each other good night. Once alone in his room, Lance nervously paces his room. Hunk and Pidge haven’t texted him back. They’re probably waiting for him to read the blog before saying anything else. He’s about to open the browser on his phone but instead opts to check his laptop. He finds the bookmark, loads the page and braces himself. _Okay, Keith… what ridiculous fantasy did you write about me now?_

> Oh my god.
> 
> I met someone.

Lance’s brain goes so blank that the words seem to float around the screen, losing all meaning. He quickly slams the laptop shut and stares helplessly at the group photos on the corkboard above his desk. Keith’s red and white jacket stands out and his eyes are drawn to him. 

Did he really just read what he thought he read?

He slowly opens the laptop, expecting to see something different in the blog post. But the words only reinforce themselves. 

He’s met someone.

Keith has met someone else.

_How?!?_ That guy never goes out, he’s a total loner!

_When?!?_ Sometime Saturday? Or earlier today?

Lance checks the timestamp on the post. It was just a minute before Pidge sent her first text. So it had to have happened on Saturday.

_Who?!?!? Who the fuck is this person Keith met?_ Did they meet online? In real life? And why is Lance so mad about it??

He checks his phone. He has to text Pidge and Hunk back. He goes to the trio group chat.

**‘haha what a relief!!’**

And for added emphasis:

‘ **thank god... this is such good news for me’**

It’s so much easier to lie via text. Lance turns off his phone, lays down on his bed and closes his eyes.


	5. Leader of the Pack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura relays some information that Lance doesn't like at all.

_Monday Morning_

Lance’s phone flies off the nightstand when he reaches over to smack off its alarm. As he sits up, a throbbing headache reveals itself. He’d blame this hangover feel on the mojitos, but he knows that the real source of this pain is yesterday’s blog post. The memory of it stings anew. Two sentences. Six words in total. How could they carry so much weight? He heads to the shower, praying he can wash this feeling off. And for good measure, he’ll also take some Tylenol.

While drying off back in his room, Lance is relieved that his headache has mostly abated. He picks his phone up from the floor and braces himself to see what Pidge and Hunk replied in the group chat:

**H: hm yeah good news for both of you i guess :(**

**H: sorry just sad for what i thot would be cute rltship**

**P: But WHO is this guy he met?????**

**H: maybe sth happened on saturday?**

**P: I did ask him if he wanted to come over to play some games but he said he was busy**

**P: Shoot, I should have asked what he was doing instead**

**P: But I just assumed he wanted to stay home!**

**P: Should I text him now?**

**H: yes plz!!!**

**H: well if its ok w lance right??**

**P: Lance, you there?**

**H: hmmmm guess not??**

**P: Ok I can ask Keith Monday morning anyway**

**P: Will keep you all updated**

**H: ok nite!!**

Lance puts the phone down and wraps a towel around his head. Great. So not only does he have to pretend to Keith that he doesn’t know about the blog, now he has to pretend to his best friends Hunk and Pidge that he doesn’t care that Keith met someone? It was all too much. He wishes he could stay home sick but he doesn’t want to worry his parents. He texts back: ‘ _sure pidge, find out and keep me updated_ ’. 

* * *

_First period_

The class is split into groups for discussion on the homework and for once, Lance is not dominating the conversation. His thoughts are completely consumed with who the new mystery guy is. It can’t be a classmate because he said he _met_ this person, presumably recently. He checks the blog on his phone and is surprised to see that the entire theme has changed. Rather than the dark mode look it had previously, the background color is now a pastel lime-greenish color. Great, this new crush is changing Keith into a completely different person. A _lightmode_ theme person. A paper slapped onto the desk in front of him brings him out of his thoughts.

A 65 on his history paper. “By the skin of your teeth, McClain,” his teacher says. But Lance barely registers the good news, his mind on something else completely.

_Lunch period_

“So, Keith hasn’t replied to my text yet but that’s not surprising. Wait, you don’t want to sit at the end of the table?” Pidge asks, placing her tater tot-laden tray down, sitting in front of Hunk who has resumed his usual spot at the end.

“Nope,” says Lance, gripping the table in nervous energy. “I want Keith to sit right across from me.” 

Hunk squeezes out a chaotic spray of ketchup that lands everywhere on his tray except his hamburger. “So you’re gonna like grill him, huh? How are we gonna handle this?”

“Hunk, you know I love you right?” Lance says, placing a hand on Hunk’s arm in a gesture that is supposed to be assuring but quickly turns into a vice-like grip. “But I’m gonna need you to say as little as possible. This requires the art of subtlety and that’s not really one of your strong suits.”

“For that matter, it’s not one of your strong suits either Lance. You should leave this all to me.” Pidge adjusts her glasses authoritatively. 

Lance ignores her and refreshes his phone screen to check if Keith updated his blog sometime in the morning. Nope, still the same. Hunk grabs Lance’s arm and whisper-shouts, “Uh-oh, he’s coming over!” Lance quickly puts his phone away. 

“Hey!” Keith says, upbeat as he places his tray down. 

“Hi, Keith!” Hunk says, in a tone that attempts to match Keith’s but fails.

“Hey you,” Pidge says, holding onto the tater tot she was about to eat and pointing it at Keith. “Missed you on Saturday, we could have held an epic dragon battle!”

Lance holds his breath. He did not expect her to get down to business this quickly. But that’s Pidge for you.

“Yeah, sorry. We can try another time? Or play online?”

“Not the same. Need to see your face in person to properly relish in your defeat.” She soaks her tater tot in ketchup, ready to go in for the kill. “So, what did you end up doing on Saturday then?”

Lance studies Keith’s face but he seems to keep his cool.

“Oh, I went out.”

“To where??” Hunk asks desperately which earns him a kick under the table from both Pidge and Lance. “Ow!” he says, but when Keith looks at him funny, Hunk covers his mouth and says, “Uh, I bit my tongue! Haha ouch! So like, where _did_ you go?”

“I went to see this local band play.”

“What? Without us?” Lance did not expect to speak with such a hurt whine in his voice. His cheeks burn with embarrassment.

“Uh, yeah. You guys hate the type of music I listen to.”

“That’s beside the point!” Lance says, his mouth now operating before his brain. “We love a fun night out, right guys?” He smacks Hunk on the arm for support and rattles Pidge’s tater tots tray.

Pidge firmly holds onto her tray and moves it several inches away from Lance’s reach. “Um, sure. I mean, I’d bring my noise-canceling headphones and portable Gameflux, but I would still like a night out.”

“Yeah!” Hunk affirms. “I mean, it’s better than going to a show alone, right? W-were you alone, by the way?” 

Keith casually drinks from his usual can of Coke. “Yeah, I went alone.”

There is a strong pause. Pidge looks at Hunk who looks at Lance who stares at Keith directly in front of him. Pidge clears her throat and starts to speak but Lance kicks her under the table. He wants to take over the questioning. “Did you have a good time at the show? By yourself?”

Keith meets Lance’s stare. “I did have a good time, yeah.”

“By yourself?” Hunk asks, repeating Lance’s last question. He is transparently eager to get to the bottom of this.

Keith passes a glance at all of them. “Fine, I get it. Next time I’ll invite you all, okay? Didn’t think it would be a crime against humanity to go to a show by myself.”

“That’s not the crime!” Lance half-shouts, exasperated.

“What’s not the crime?” Allura asks, plopping herself down next to Keith. As a popular junior, she constantly flits from table to table. Lance suddenly realizes that they didn’t tell her about the latest blog post. Or has she read it on her own?

Keith rolls his eyes. “Everyone’s mad at me because I didn’t invite them to a show I went to over the weekend.”

“Ohh, that’s right!” Allura says, tapping her pink fingernails on the table. “I was just talking to Shiro. He said you got home super late on Saturday night. Like 3am? Nice one, Keith!” She squeezes his arm.

“Nice? There’s nothing nice about that!” Lance complains.

“Sure it is! What were you all doing Saturday night? Least one of you is getting some action! Well, minus you Pidge, I know you don’t want that type of action,” Allura says. Pidge smiles appreciatively at her addendum.

“Action??” Hunk asks. “Wait, I’m lost, are we or are we not talking about Keith getting it on with some random guy?”

Allura snorts while Pidge chokes on a tater tot. Lance buries his face in his hands, mortified. Keith blushes slightly before saying “Hey, I gotta go. Maybe I’ll see you all after school?”

Once he’s out of earshot, Allura flutters her hands wildly and lets out a high-pitched squeal. “Oh my god, I have the _hottest_ gossip!”

“Spill!” Hunk says, not even caring that his food is getting cold.

“So, I was just talking to Shiro… you know how his bedroom faces the street, right? Well, he heard voices outside late Saturday night so he looks out the window and sees Keith talking to someone.”

_Someone_ . _The_ someone, Lance thinks. 

“Who was he talking to?” Pidge asks.

“Well, Shiro can’t see very well because it’s dark but he is tall and dark-haired and wears this expensive-looking leather jacket. Anyway, they don’t talk for very long because soon they are in full-on makeout mode.” She claps her hands in delight.

Hunk’s jaw drops and Pidge stops chewing on her food and makes a face. Lance feels a seething anger bubbling up inside him. He has no idea who this other guy is but he has never hated anyone as much as he does now.

“I hesitate to ask this,” starts Pidge, “but does this guy actually follow Keith inside?”

Allura waves the question away. “Oh, please. Like Shiro would let him? The guy leaves after a bit and, get this, he rides away on a _motorcycle_. Isn’t that the hottest? God, I’d love to date a motorbike guy.”

“Is he our age? Or is he older?” Hunk asks, utterly absorbed by the story.

“Don’t know. Shiro tried to get more info out of Keith, but you know how he is. So private.”

“Did you read the blog?” Lance asks Allura.

“No, not since you showed it to me last week. Why?”

Lance pulls up the blog on his phone and shows her the screen. Allura’s eyes widen. “Oh! Well, _that’s_ to the point. But you really shouldn’t be reading that anymore, Lance.” She gives him a hard stare.

“Why not?” Lance says, putting his phone away. “I don’t care. It’s no longer about me. No more horrifying embarrassment! I win.”

“And we lose,” Hunk says sadly.

“Wait, we don’t know if things will get serious with this biker-guy,” Pidge says, determination in her voice. “I mean, they _just_ met. And Keith was writing about Lance as recent as Friday night. One day won’t make him, like, erase all feelings for him.”

Allura sighs and places a hand over Pidge’s. “Oh, Pidge. You’d be surprised how the right guy can make you literally forget the rest of the _world_ exists.”

“Hmm,” Pidge says, not entirely convinced. “Even so, I, er, _we_ need to gather much more information on this guy. If you’ll excuse me, I have some well-crafted and highly curated texts to write.” She gets up and leaves the table. Allura looks over at Hunk who is sadness personified. Lance gets up from the table.

“I gotta go too. See you later.” Lance strains to keep his voice steady but it shakes in anger. He walks to the end of the hall and finds an empty stairwell to gather his thoughts. Why does he care so much? _Why?_

After a few minutes, the door to the stairwell opens and it’s Shiro talking with two other friends. “Oh hey Lance!” he says in surprise. Once he sees Lance’s expression he tells his friends he’ll catch up with them later. Shiro looks at him in concern. “This isn’t where you usually spend your lunch period.”

Lance shifts uncomfortably. He always found Shiro a bit intimidating, despite how nice he is to him and his friends. Or maybe it’s _because_ he is always so nice to them. Why would a popular senior even think twice about them? Even if they are his brother’s friends. 

“Uh, yeah. Guess I kinda want to be alone.” Lance hopes Shiro takes the hint.

But Shiro doesn’t move. “It’s not like you to be away from people. Something wrong?”

Maybe it’s because he’s been bottling clashing emotions since he discovered the blog but he finds his eyes welling in frustration. “Ugh, it’s nothing. It’s stupid.” He balls his hands into fists and rubs at his eyes.

Shiro sits down next to Lance on the bottom step. “Sometimes it helps to talk about what’s bothering you. I’m not saying you have to tell _me_ , but I’m sure you can reach out to Hunk or Pidge or-”

Lance snorts in derision. “Or who, Keith? You know me and your brother don’t really get along, right?”

“I was going to say Allura.” There is a slight edge to Shiro’s voice now that his brother is mentioned.

Lance blushes a deep red. “Um, sorry. But thanks anyway for like, trying to help. I think I should be heading to my next class now.” He gets up from the step and starts walking upstairs but Shiro remains seated.

“Hey,” Shiro says. “You know why I think you and my brother have a hard time getting along?”

Lance pauses at the landing, unnerved by the question. He turns around and sees Shiro get up from the step and start walking up towards him.

“You two are a lot more alike than you think,” Shiro says, looking Lance square in the eye before he passes him up the stairs and disappears. Lance doesn’t move. What does Shiro mean? He is nothing like Keith. They are total polar opposites.

* * *

Lance checks his phone before meeting with everyone else after school. He sees some texts from Pidge:

**P: No new info on the mystery guy yet.**

**P: This is going to be more difficult than I thought :/**

Lance wonders if they directly ask Keith, whether he would answer truthfully or not. Presumably, this is good news for him. And who doesn’t like to share good news. He considers texting him when someone appears out of nowhere to link arms with his.

“Hey Lance! You alright?” Allura leans into him playfully.

Lance is stone-faced. He shouldn’t be mad at her for being the bearer of bad news but it still hurts. “Yes, I’m fine,” he seethes.

“Aw, you poor thing. Sad that your best frenemy has moved on?”

“Who’s sad? I’m not sad.”

“Well, you’re a tad peeved, it seems.”

Lance frowns. “Why are we even talking about him? Why does _he_ get to be the center of attention right now?”

“Well, _you’re_ not the one who made out with a motorbike hottie, Lance. It’s as simple as that.”

“That guy is probably old. And a creep. Who wants that?”

“Hmph. Well, looks like you lost your chance.”

“You _need_ to stop with that.”

“Just saying.” Allura unlinks arms and continues staring at him as she walks away. She blows him a kiss before heading to the gym for volleyball practice. 

God. Hopefully that will be the end of all her weird implying that they should go out. Clearly, that _definitely_ won’t happen. The thought makes him pause mid-step. 

But... as little as a week ago, it _could_ have. He only had to ask and Keith would have said yes.

What a weird thought. Lance pushes it out of his head before he meets up with his friends.

* * *

After school, they walk to a nearby park. They talk for a bit about school stuff before Hunk and Pidge spot the dog park further ahead and go running full-speed toward it. Lance glances over at Keith who is texting on his phone. _Really?_ , thinks Lance. How can the motorbike guy be more interesting than a dozen different dogs? Lance fumes silently as he joins Hunk and Pidge to play with the friendlier dogs. Keith sits on a bench nearby, absorbed with his phone. 

Fifteen minutes pass but as much as Lance loves dogs, he keeps glancing over at Keith who remains seated on the bench. He only pauses from texting to throw a small ball that has landed at his feet which a dog immediately runs to chase. Lance can’t stand it. He has to find out what the hell is up with this guy. He walks over and sits next to Keith.

“Who are you texting?” Lance asks in what was supposed to sound like a calm voice but is anything but. 

Keith doesn’t look up from his phone. It infuriates Lance.

“ _Keith!_ ”

“Sorry, what?”

“You haven’t stopped texting since we got here.”

Keith smirks. “Okay, _Dad_ , I’ll put the phone away.”

Lance rolls his eyes. “Why aren’t you playing with the dogs? You love dogs.”

“Don’t want to make Kosmo jealous,” Keith answers, referring to his own dog at home. “I swear he has a sixth sense about these kinds of things.”

“Hm,” Lance says. “I miss Kosmo.”

“Well, you can come over to see him. No one’s stopping you.”

Lance frowns. Yeah right, as if he wants to run into Keith and his new boyfriend making out in every room of his house. No thanks. He tries to clear the awful thought from his head.

“So um, we still haven’t decided what to do for the half-day on Friday. And Hunk can definitely make it. I’ll change his mind.”

“Oh, yeah,” Keith says. “I’m cool with whatever. I can’t stay out late though.”

“Pfft, yeah right! It’s not like you have curfew.”

“I know. It’s just... I have to be somewhere later that day.”

Lance feels his throat dry up. “Yeah? Where?”

Keith blushes. “Just made some previous plans.”

Lance is incredulous. “But _we_ made plans for the half-day since last week!”

“Hey, I’m not cancelling! I just have to leave early, like Hunk. And isn’t Allura joining later anyway?”

Lance crosses his arms, jealousy coursing through his body. “Fine. I get to choose where we’re going then.”

“Fine by me.” Keith says. He fiddles with the zipper of his jacket. “Where to?”

“The aquarium,” Lance decides. Even if Lance will be consumed with jealousy over Keith leaving early, at least he can enjoy a good view. “I gotta pick up my niece from daycare and drop her off with my grandma but I’ll meet you and Hunk there.”

“Okay,” Keith says. He turns to look at Lance and their eyes meet. Lance never noticed how piercing Keith’s eyes could be. Their gaze lasts only a few seconds before Lance swiftly turns his attention back to the dog park. Keith seems to look away just as quickly. 

“Let’s find the others and tell them,” Lance says, getting up from the bench.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is the last chapter! Sorry if it's getting a bit angsty, I promise the ending is not! X)


	6. At The Aquarium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a half-day Friday and Lance is looking forward to heading to the aquarium. But who will be there with him?

_Friday_

The days pass uneventfully compared to the bombshell of Monday’s gossip from Allura. During class, Lance receives periodic texts from Pidge who complains that Keith is not giving any new information other than to corroborate what Allura said. On their lunch breaks, Hunk attempts to ask Keith outright but Keith merely says “it’s private” and changes the subject. It bothers Lance more than he thought it would. As if he was keeping this new guy secret because he was so special. At home, Lance checks in on the blog but there are no new updates beyond the ‘I met someone’ post from Sunday.

The bell rings out at noon and the students disperse wildly, everyone glad to leave early and either go back home to sleep or hang out with friends. Lance runs into Pidge who is texting but quickly puts her phone away. “Hey Lance! Excited for your trip to the aquarium? Wish I could join you guys!”

Lance narrows his eyes slightly at her. “Tell me the truth. Are you really going to your dad’s workplace?”

“Yeah! Cross my heart. I can bring him up on FaceTime if you want confirmation.”

“Um, no thanks. Gotta run, going to pick up my niece.”

“Cool. Maybe we can get together over the weekend?”

Lance nods, noncommittally. For the first time in his life, he kind of wishes to just stay home all weekend. 

* * *

After Lance drops off his niece he checks his phone and sees he has only about ten minutes before he has to leave again. In his bedroom, he briefly looks at himself in the full-length mirror and considers changing to a different shirt than the one he wore to school.

He half-heartedly searches his shirt drawer before stopping. Why bother? It’s not like he has to look extra-good for anyone. He takes out his phone and texts Hunk to meet him at the bus stop so they can head to the aquarium. Hunk responds quickly. 

**H: running a bit late at the grocery. meet u at aquarium!**

Lance doesn’t like the sound of this. Is Hunk _actually_ making a chicken dinner for his family later? That whole thing was a fabrication made up on the fly! He considers telling Hunk he’ll wait at the bus stop for him but then realizes Keith would be left alone waiting at the aquarium. Better to go on ahead, then.

**L: fine, see ya there**

Lance rushes out, runs four blocks and gets on the bus just before it closes its doors. He’s relieved to find a seat near the back for the half-hour ride. He suddenly wishes he had waited for Hunk... this ride is going to be so lonely without anyone to talk to. Even remembering that he would still be in class if not for the half-day doesn’t improve his mood. How late is Hunk going to arrive at the aquarium and how early is Keith leaving? Would Lance have to spend time alone with Keith? The thought makes him shudder. Though Keith would probably just be on his phone the entire time, texting this biker-guy. Lance is old news now... 

* * *

The dark interior of the aquarium gives Lance a calmness he hasn’t felt in a while. He walks down a long hall, the displays on either side filled with all kinds of active and shimmering marine life. He enters a giant room with a large display, various families and small children oohing and ahhing at all the sights. He sits down on a cushioned bench in the middle and observes all the variety of angelfish, stingrays, eels and even some piranha. Ever since he was a kid he loved going to the aquarium. Anything to do with the water seemed to call out to Lance. Growing up as a kid in Varadero, Lance and the beach were inseparable. God, he misses those days. Maybe in the summer he can go back with his family for vacation. His daydream is interrupted by two short vibrations from his phone.

**H: came down with a real bad stomachache i am unable to leave the toilet**  
**H: its soooo bad!!!**

Lance blinks at the screen. Hunk _can’t_ be serious. Is he really going to leave Lance alone with Keith for hours? If Hunk is lying, he will absolutely kill him later.

Little kids nearby scream in delight when one of the rays swims close to the glass. It’s hard to stay completely angry when they have such infectious energy. They remind him of his niece and nephew. He’ll have to bring them next time. Lance takes out his phone to take a photo of the large ray floating near the glass. Just as he does, Keith photobombs his photo with a gloved hand in the devil-horn symbol.

“Idiot,” Lance says, though he can’t help but smile at the funny result on his phone.

“Hey,” Keith says, sitting down next to him.

“Um, so Hunk texted that he’s sick and can’t make it.”

“Damn. That sucks for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Remember at lunch like a week ago? You were pissed that no one else would be able to make it and you’d be stuck with me? Looks like your worst nightmare is happening.”

“I wasn’t pissed,” Lance lies, embarrassed that Keith still remembers all that. “It’s just the more the merrier, right? Anyway, let’s walk around.” Lance makes to get up but Keith remains seated.

“This room is nice. I mean, if you want to walk around that’s fine by me.”

Lance hesitates. He loves this room and could spend _hours_ here. But he’s not sure how he feels about spending it with Keith by his side. He pauses and then slowly sits back down. “I guess I can stay for a bit longer,” he says.

They sit in silence. The movements of the fish and colors of the reef are hypnotic. Thoughts swirl in Lance’s head. Has it really been just over a week since his life was upended? Everything was so much simpler before he discovered the blog. Lance used to be able to pick easy fights with Keith that would be forgotten the next day, their predictable dynamic set in stone. Now Lance doesn’t know how to act around Keith. And he isn’t sure how much longer he can keep this up. The waves of guilt he feels over reading Keith’s blog don’t seem to dissipate. 

Lance glances over at Keith who is transfixed by the aquatic display. Maybe now is the time to say something. Who knows when they would be alone like this again? And anyway, now that Keith is over him, he probably won’t feel as embarrassed. 

Or, on the off chance that Keith _does_ want to kill him, he wouldn’t do it in public in front of all these families and children. At least he hopes he wouldn’t.

“So, um.” Lance clears his throat. “I have a confession to make.”

There is a pause. Lance is too afraid to look Keith in the eye and instead stares down at his own shoes.

“What?” Keith asks, facing straight ahead at the fish swimming around.

“So… remember last week, when I had to use your computer at the library to finish my history paper?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“I kind of… um...” Lance braces himself for an explosion. “...saw your blog.”

“You _saw_ it?” Keith asks.

“Um, I read it. And I showed it to Hunk and Pidge and Allura.”

“ _Jesus_ , Lance.”

Lance buries his face in his hands. “I know! I’m really, really, _really_ sorry! I know I shouldn’t have but I kept reading it and, and…” And what? A pang hits Lance’s heart in the worst way. What does any of it matter now? 

A sudden onslaught of clarity overwhelms him. He _knows_ what. 

“and... I felt the same way,” Lance finishes.

There. It’s out in the open. All the frustration and confusion Lance felt over the past week boils down to this one truth. He sighs, unsure of how this confession will do them any good. He looks over sheepishly at Keith who closes his eyes for a brief moment. 

He doesn’t say anything and Lance can’t stand the silence. “Keith, I’m sorry! I’ll never do something like this again, I swear! The last thing I read was your blog post from Sunday. So... I know you found someone else. And that’s fine! I mean, it’s _not_ fine but like I’ll get over it somehow.” Lance pauses before he adds, “Like you got over me. I mean, you’re meeting that other guy later tonight, right?”

Keith turns his head to look at Lance. He swings his leg over the bench so he can face him completely. “Lance,” he says. Lance meets his stare and he is a little unnerved by what he sees in those dark eyes.

“There is no other guy.”

Lance is completely silent for a good ten seconds, uncomprehending. “But Allura told me about-”

“She lied. For me.”

Lance’s face goes pale. “Wait, what?”

“Late Friday night, Shiro remembered something that happened the day before. Something about you, running out of the lunchroom with Hunk and Pidge’s phones?"

Lance stays quiet, shuddering slightly at the mention of Shiro.

“He tells me you acted weird, like weirder than usual, and he wondered what you all were up to. And then I remembered what happened earlier that day in the library. I _swore_ I had closed the right browser but I guess not. And so, to double-check, I looked up the stats for my blog and all your IP addresses were there. You and Hunk and Pidge. Well, hers was masked but that just made it more obvious it was her.”

Lance feels himself grow faint. “You knew since _then_?”

“And I was super pissed. Shiro had to stop me from going straight over to your house and kicking your ass.”

“ _What?_ ” 

“Anyway, Shiro tells me that he thinks you like me too. I mean, I figure that’s just my own brother trying to make me feel better. But Allura also says something similar. And she feels bad about reading my blog so she asks if there’s anything she can do. So me, her and Shiro brainstormed to figure out what might make you crack, if you really had feelings for me. So that’s where Allura comes in with that made-up story about the other guy. And that’s about it.”

Lance is dumbstruck. A good minute passes before he regains his vocal ability.

“You _lied_ to me?” Lance asks, incredulous.

“You lied to _me_!” Keith fires back.

A toddler passing by repeats their exchange, thinking it a game. Lance doesn’t know whether to laugh or scream.

“I don’t know what to say,” Lance says, looking down at the bench space between them. “I can’t believe it. I really thought...” His words trail off as the realization of what is happening occurs to him. _There is no other guy_. “I’m sorry, I really am.” Lance never thought he would ever apologize to Keith even once, let alone three times in one day.

Keith looks at Lance. Lance feels that same spark that he shared with Keith when they were sitting on the bench at the dog park before they quickly looked away from each other. Now he doesn’t have to look away.

Keith slowly breaks into a smile. “It was fun seeing you green with envy for almost a week.”

Lance smacks the bench in frustration. “I can’t believe all this. All because you couldn’t just _tell_ me.”

“Well, that’s why it’s called a _crush_ , stupid,” Keith says, blushing slightly. “I didn’t think you’d ever feel the same way. Anyway, I think we’re even now.”

Lance sighs, overwhelmed and still processing everything. “Hey, wait. Did you get Hunk to lie to me about being sick?”

“Yeah, I spoke to him and Pidge yesterday. Their saving grace is that they told me they were trying to get you to ask me out. Allura’s not joining us later either. Still, it’s embarrassing that everyone knows my innermost thoughts about you. But I figure there are ways you can make it up to me.” A spark flashes in Keith’s eyes.

Lance feels like the temperature has gone up a thousand degrees. “Um, I…”

“First things first. Will you go out with me?”

“Yeah,” Lance answers, almost breathless. “Um, when?”

“How about now o’clock? At the aquarium, your favorite place.”

Lance cracks a smile. “You know, I think that works for me.”

Keith gets up from the bench and extends a hand out to Lance. “Let’s go explore.” Lance takes his hand, the leather of Keith’s glove warm against his skin. A thrill runs through him. They look like a couple already. They hold hands for the rest of their walk through the aquarium.

* * *

_Later that night_

“You wouldn’t _believe_ the picture Allura painted. It felt so real. His motorcycle was parked like _right_ here,” Lance says as he pulls his hand away from Keith’s to gesture with both hands to an empty spot in front of Keith’s house, illuminated by the street light. “And he was like taller than me and had a cool leather jacket and you two made out for like _hours_.”

“That does sound hot,” Keith muses, which earns a smack on his arm from Lance before they laugh and hold hands again. “Anyway, I had a really great time tonight. We should do this more often.”

“Yeah,” Lance says, feeling a warmth all over despite the cool night air. “Even though it took a roundabout way of us getting to this moment, I’m glad we’re, you know, together now.”

“We’re together?” Keith teases.

“I mean, if you want to?” Lance says, not wanting to jump the gun.

“Of course I want to, you idiot. Like you haven’t read a hundred blog posts about me wanting you as my boyfriend.” 

“Well, we can’t call ourselves boyfriends yet. Not if we haven’t kissed,” Lance says, feeling his flirty side return.

Keith blushes as red as his jacket. He turns to look at Lance who also moves closer to him. Keith takes a step forward and places his gloved hand on Lance’s warm neck. His hand glides up to his cheek and holds his face steady as he brings his lips to Lance’s. Lance presses his lips firmer against Keith’s and soon their tongues meet.

Neither wants to pull away but eventually Lance does to say, “ _Hours_ , Keith.”

“That other guy doesn’t exist!” says Keith exasperatedly but with a smile on his face. “But yeah, I think we can match that.”

“We better,” Lance teases. He is about to pull Keith close for another kiss but instantly pulls away as something dawns on him. “Hey, wait! Is Shiro…?”

“His bedroom does _not_ face the street. And I don’t think we’re being loud.”

Despite Keith’s assertions, both turn their heads to look at Keith’s house. All the windows are dark. They both giggle madly before they pull each other close again to kiss. Only the stars look down on them from above.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed it! My original ending had two very dramatic and angsty chapters where Keith didn’t speak to any of them for days when he found out and then there was a cryfest. At least this way he got his mini-revenge and of course either way they both ended up together in the end. :) (Kudos to my Portuguese-speaking reader who figured out most of it quickly!) Hope you are all doing well despite the worldwide circumstances. I will definitely continue writing more klance, just debating whether it will be angst or fluff! Thanks so much for reading!

**Author's Note:**

>  ~~Hi hi! This is my attempt at a sort-of lighthearted hs au! This will only be about 4 or 5 chapters max. Also I am really bad at tagging without giving stuff away so lmk if you think I should add a tag. Thanks for reading!~~  
>  Ha, emphasis on the 'sort-of'! Editing to add that this will contain some angst but it will have a happy ending. I changed some tags to reflect that as I didn't know where the story would lead. And I went one chapter over from my estimate lol


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